Harley Benton Aeolus Frost Flame

I play music in several bands, and this review is based on three gigs I had this weekend.

Aeolus looks stunning. I have the frosted flamed version and it really looks classy. The maple veneer tops looks like real maple, color fading is smooth, and the roasted neck really compliments the look. I would only prefer neck inlays to be block instead of dots. Smaller chrome logo looks better than any other previous version, and I like the “a” logo on the headstock. If you are picky don't look at the soundholes. Guitar interior looks unfinished and f holes edges are not smooth.

Playability wise, guitar is set up perfectly, intonation is impeccable and 10 gauge strings feel smooth and easy to bend.

Sound is the most important thing to me and Aeolus really delivers. I was wondering how guitar will behave with overdrive on loud stage – I feared uncontrolled feedback, and presumed single-coil splitting will be useless, but I am happy to report both of those concerns proved to be unfounded. When I played guitar at home I instantly loved the neck pickup but bridge pickup did not impress me; I though it sounded thin and uninspiring.
Playing guitar live showed its true sound capabilities: neck pickup is just stellar in any combination – humbucking mode allows full clean sounds and singing smooth overdriven sound (but not woolly or muddy), and single coil mode really matches the good single coil tone I get from my strats. Really impressed here – I believe this is not only due to pickups but this is a maple/maple neck guitar, and the string length is between Strat and Les Paul, so I presume this contributes to tone.
Bridge pickup really thumps well with overdrive. When used with high gain sound I needed to be careful and not stand close to the wedge monitor to avoid feedback, but it is important to say the feedback was controllable and in-pitch. It was not the uncontrollable squealing I feared.

I really like the neck satin feel. Stainless steel frets are well done, but the fretboard was dry when I received the guitar. After a week of playing (and three sweaty gigs), it lost the dry feel and scratching sound of strings rubbing the fretboard.
One thing I don’t like about the neck is the profile: this is a thick, chunky C profile. It is quite substantial and since I have small hands this is challenging for me. After a couple of all-night gigs (7-8 hour sets) my left hand felt really tired. At the end of second night I had to switch to a superstrat – what a relief for my left hand! Players who prefer thick necks will like this chunky profile.

There is just one complaint: I broke the first string during the third song of the gig. This almost never happens to me. After the set I was replacing it with a fresh string – and it broke again immediately, at the same spot – right at the locking tuner! So, I guess the Grover typed locking tuners might have sharp edges of the locking mechanism. - I then replaced it with a thicker gauge string (011), and it did not break again. Yet…

Overall, this is a really good instrument for any price range and a ridiculously great value.

Hey! I'll start with that overall I'm happy with this guitar. It looks bewitching and plays and sound great. I'm glad that I've purchased it, but I couldn't rate it all 5 stars, let's go

I’ll start with the positives. Satin Mapple Vinier looks just awesome. It has a prominent wave texture and a noticeable gradient from dark at the top of the body towards the bottom. With roasted neck (which is too has a nice texture) It’s eye candy.

For my liking, I enjoy a sound. It’s full, reach and quite bassy, especially on neck pickup. Sounds excellent on clean and low overdrive. I’ve been surprised that the pickups hold well on high gain too.

Satin neck is both beautiful and comfortable to play. After I’d received it I spent the rest of the day playing and noodling, not wanting the guitar to leave my hands. It just feels nice to keep it in your hands

The guitar was set up well and playable from the box. Not a scratch on the finish after delivery.

I think Aeolus is a great alternative to run-of-the-mill budget Les Paul. It’s a way to go if you want something more classy looking and feel comfortable with this kind of neck.

Now to the negatives. You can say all of them are minor, but adding up they spoil the impression.
—From the box frets are very poorly polished (or probably not polished at all);
—The fretwork is not very accurate. You can see marks tool marks on the edges of neck and even on the fretboard;
—The «a» logo is not centered :-)
—Tuning keys. Yeah HB decreased the price by about 60 euros and switched for a noname HB keys (not locking). They are fine, but meh. I can’t say they cause any problems, but they just don’t feel nice. Even not brand HB locking tuners on my Fusion III feel much better. I personally would prefer to pay extra but receive Grover tuners from the box (I rumble so much only because they focused so much on these tuners in their promo videos);
—Final woodwork (sanding?) on F holes are sloppy;

In the end, I enjoy this guitar and would love to give it five stars. But with all these little issues adding up, It's a shame that I just can't :-(

Extra:
The neck is the chunckiest I’ve played on. I was expecting this and feel comfortable with it. Someone could find it as a cons. but I find it quite nice to play extended chords

Don’t use Elixir strings on this guitar. The coating on wounded strings causes ham because of grounding issues. It’s the first time I’ve faced this problem, but it’s 100% caused by stings. When I switched back to regular strings it went away

Decent guitar, good tuners+nut+fretboard, plus point for easy acces trussrod, compfy good materials, very nice top color with matt finish, the ergonomic heel is also a nice point, pickups are totally ok, you dont have the feeling like to have to change right away, ofc you can, but they are just fine. No sharp frets, maybe not 100% but action around/little below 2 mm, i would said medium quality, seen much worst from premium brands, and it can be corrigated under 1 hour to perfect around 0,5 mm. I made a few estetical changes, the only thing i would add for the basic modell is a roller bridge. In this price range, probably the best you can buy. This guitar "has it all", very very nice for beginners, and for advanced players as well. I recommend!

Because of the low price of this guitar it's tempting to say "great guitar for the price," but really I think it's a really good guitar whatever the price. I bought it because I wanted a semi hollow, but don't like the large 335 body size. With the Aeolus they created the exact features and form I was looking for. It just amazes me that it was so inexpensive also. I am also happy they did something with the Frost color that is not so typical. Stainless steel frets, locking tuners, coil split, roasted maple neck - all excellent quality features especially for the price. High quality guitar all the way around. I'd say the two cons for me were that the fading from maple color to dark on the body is not gradual or subtle like I was hoping it would be, and I do think it could use a fret level and crown. That being said the action isn't bad, it just could be better. I am glad I took the gamble and ordered this guitar. It's just going to be luck if the draw on the color and grain and mine isn't ugly like a couple others I've seen online but it's not as great and even like the ones they used for the photos.

I wanted a single cut semi-hollow with modern features and this guitar delivers. Roasted maple neck, stainless frets, locking tuners and an excellent pair of Korean pickups.
My Frost Flame is two dozen away in serial number from the one shown in the pictures and shows the individuality of each instrument. Mine has a very soft bottom colouration, with striping that shows in limited angles and would pop more with some oil or other treatment.
One outstanding modern capability is the rear panel access, which is odd for Semi-Hollow, but this gives you the ability to modify or maintain easily. The missing piece of visual puzzle, there is no "curtain" to hide the view of the internal guts of the cables and pots, but this is a very small price to pay to for all that you get.
Mark my words, this is a wonderful new way to build a Semi-Hollow guitar and HB now has a perhaps the most modern implementation.

I juut got this the other day, finally got it out of the box. Right off the bat, no major issues with fit and finish, everything is well put together.

Oh theres some minor finish flaws here and there, and yes inside the f holes looks rather rough, but who cares? I certainly dont. Playability out of the box is 8/10 I think. No truss rod, or action adjustments were needed. Only 3 small intonation adjustments . The only issues thats noteworthy is it needs a fret polish, and a dry fretboard, but thats pretty much standard with this price range, and easily fixed.

Sound wise, it is very tonally versatile. A agree with other reviewers, the neck pickup is really nice. Full and warm, it really sings in clean and dirty modes. The bridge pickup is good, I think it does alright on the variety of tones I used. I think this will be a versatile, but not specialized guitar, and thats totally ok with me. The neck feels great to me, easy to play chords and solos. Access to the upper frets is good too.

Overall, for me this was a good purchase, will enjoy having this in my collection!

I was after a small-bodied semi-acoustic and with the features this has I couldn't resist at this price. Locking tuners, Graph-tech nut keeping it solidly in tune. The neck is amazing - the only roasted maple I have but really nice to play with stainless steel frets. But beware, it's a very chunky neck! I actually find it very comfortable, but may not suit everyone.

The satin finish is great, although not a huge fan of the fade. A minor quality issue, the switch was loose and threaded: had to change it.

My biggest downside is the electronics: I'm not a fan of the Tesla pick-ups. Probably more suited to rock/metal, which doesn't really sit with the guitar style. Coil-tap lightens them up, but it's neither one nor the other for me. Will probably replace with some vintage-PAF type replicas or P90s as I think suits the guitar more, but at this price point for the overall quality of the guitar, it's well worth spending some money on an electronics upgrade if that's your thing.